Yes, Robert that is right, grey can be so drab. Here where we live, all the stone houses have grey slate roofs and grey skies, this was a sight that took me some time to get used to.
I find it funny how people react to different colours. For instance, my mother was horrified to see me buy a purple garment, I told her I loved purple ! She looked at me as though I was from Mars, so when we got home I asked her why she seemed to look so scared about purple, at first, she said she did not know why and then she said it reminded her of the Holy Week when the priest dressed all in purple and the Christ was brought into the church with all the wounds in his hands and feet, hanging from an enormous cross, looking so sad with his crown of thorns. This is what purple means to her.
People react to colours in different ways. Another time, I noticed some beautiful yellow roses and my aunt who was with me that day told me that any yellow flowers made her feel sad. I asked her why and she replied that the church was completely filled with yellow flowers when my grand-father died. I had planned to give her the painting that you see here with the yellow daffodils to take home with her, but after having heard that, I refrained from presenting it to her, thinking that this painting was clearly not meant for her, when she left, she said to me: When are you going to paint me another picture ?
I think that for me, the saddest colour is grey. I can wear it only if I put on a colourful scarf, I do the same thing with black to jazz it up a little bit. A long time ago, I used to use pure black but it did not do anything to illuminate my face. Now, I'm using bright colours, even in winter to brighten up the drab grey skies. One thing I always used when I was a teen-ager was red shoes, I love red shoes, they somehow make me feel very happy. I find it strange how colour does have an emotional impact or a certain positive or negative reaction on each person and maybe this is why a painting has a different impact on people as we each view it from a very personal experience.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Hello Victoria
I think that it would be a real good idea, to arrange and get myself to be invited to meet Prince Charles and you are quite right, I should do it before it is too late and the opportunity passes me by.
I also adore boots too, since I was in university in Spain, I wore blue-jeans, boots, a leather hand-bag to match the boots, a polo sweater and a fox fur coat and I felt dressed to go anywhere, from university to a restaurant. In Britain you cannot wear fur, when I do, I tell my friends its a good fake ! but the strange thing is, that they do not mind wearing leather shoes and hand-bags made out of leather, they eat meat, so I do not understand what is all the fuss about wearing a fox fur coat, its warm, its practical and it lasts for years and years.
No, I don't think your mother had a strange idea Victoria, since Prince Charles lived for a while in Australia and going by what you describe about your present life, she is right you would have been an ideal candidate. Prince Charles had a good Australian friend amongst his confidants who he nicknamed Kanga. She was married to a very wealthy man here in Britain from an aristocratic family and also Prince Michael of Kent is married to a lady whose mother is from Australia. Anyway, going back to Prince Charles confidant, she died in mysterious circumstances, shortly before she died, she said someone in the night had pushed her down an open window from where she was found, at a hospital she was staying at. There was no investigation done about the incident and all the letters that Prince Charles wrote to her that she kept in a special embroidered pauch behind her bed had disappeared, she told this to a journalist woman who was a friend of hers before she died of blood poisoning. It was all a very strange affair.
What is your favourite colour ?
I think that it would be a real good idea, to arrange and get myself to be invited to meet Prince Charles and you are quite right, I should do it before it is too late and the opportunity passes me by.
I also adore boots too, since I was in university in Spain, I wore blue-jeans, boots, a leather hand-bag to match the boots, a polo sweater and a fox fur coat and I felt dressed to go anywhere, from university to a restaurant. In Britain you cannot wear fur, when I do, I tell my friends its a good fake ! but the strange thing is, that they do not mind wearing leather shoes and hand-bags made out of leather, they eat meat, so I do not understand what is all the fuss about wearing a fox fur coat, its warm, its practical and it lasts for years and years.
No, I don't think your mother had a strange idea Victoria, since Prince Charles lived for a while in Australia and going by what you describe about your present life, she is right you would have been an ideal candidate. Prince Charles had a good Australian friend amongst his confidants who he nicknamed Kanga. She was married to a very wealthy man here in Britain from an aristocratic family and also Prince Michael of Kent is married to a lady whose mother is from Australia. Anyway, going back to Prince Charles confidant, she died in mysterious circumstances, shortly before she died, she said someone in the night had pushed her down an open window from where she was found, at a hospital she was staying at. There was no investigation done about the incident and all the letters that Prince Charles wrote to her that she kept in a special embroidered pauch behind her bed had disappeared, she told this to a journalist woman who was a friend of hers before she died of blood poisoning. It was all a very strange affair.
What is your favourite colour ?
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
On Painting,
Sir Winston Churchill said: ' I prefer landscapes. A tree doesn't complain that I haven't done it justice.' And: 'I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns. '
Victoria, I was saying to Robert that when Camilla Parker-Bowles was introduced to Prince Charles upon meeting the Prince for the first time, she said : ' Sir, my Great-great-Aunt was your Great-great-Grandfather's Mistress, so how about it then ? and so as we know, Camilla became Prince Charles's Mistress. If one day I ever meet the Prince of Wales, I would say to him: ' Sir, my Great-great-grand Aunt painted your Great-great-Grandfather's portrait so how about it then ? ' And probably I too, would become his Court portrait painter. This is in reality true. My Great-great-Grand Aunt Maria Spilsbury painted the Prince when he was regent.
Actually... I do like browns specially against the green grass, the colours I feel sorry for, are the greys. I cannot stand the greys, they made me feel the grey skies from outside, sorrow and rain, it makes me think of dark dungeons. Maybe the only way I could live with them is.... if they are contrasted against a red colour, a bit like the red London buses in a grey rainy day, or for that matter, a red letter box or a red phone booth, I know greys are important in every artist palette as grey is a neutral colour but there is something in my psichic that prohibits me to use grey, being just the muddy result of mixing 3 colours, in fact, any three colours you mix will give you a grey.
Victoria, I was saying to Robert that when Camilla Parker-Bowles was introduced to Prince Charles upon meeting the Prince for the first time, she said : ' Sir, my Great-great-Aunt was your Great-great-Grandfather's Mistress, so how about it then ? and so as we know, Camilla became Prince Charles's Mistress. If one day I ever meet the Prince of Wales, I would say to him: ' Sir, my Great-great-grand Aunt painted your Great-great-Grandfather's portrait so how about it then ? ' And probably I too, would become his Court portrait painter. This is in reality true. My Great-great-Grand Aunt Maria Spilsbury painted the Prince when he was regent.
Actually... I do like browns specially against the green grass, the colours I feel sorry for, are the greys. I cannot stand the greys, they made me feel the grey skies from outside, sorrow and rain, it makes me think of dark dungeons. Maybe the only way I could live with them is.... if they are contrasted against a red colour, a bit like the red London buses in a grey rainy day, or for that matter, a red letter box or a red phone booth, I know greys are important in every artist palette as grey is a neutral colour but there is something in my psichic that prohibits me to use grey, being just the muddy result of mixing 3 colours, in fact, any three colours you mix will give you a grey.
Friday, 24 October 2008
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Peter
Hi Victoria !
Yes, the handsome one on the right is Peter my dear husband, and yes, its just the hair which has turned silver now apart from that, he looks the same !
Yes, the handsome one on the right is Peter my dear husband, and yes, its just the hair which has turned silver now apart from that, he looks the same !
Yes, this is true. The projects have to mature in your mind before you commit the brush to paint and that is done by doing sketches first, in very rare occasions, the whole idea comes like a flash, all finished to the last detail, a vision if you like and you must try to paint it as quickly as possible before the whole idea vanishes into thin air, never to return again. When you grab it and succeed, its a bit like catching a bird in mid-air, it is a wonderful feeling.
Robert I finally got a letter from Nick Clegg's office this morning, first they thank me for my email to them and after saying that my comments have been well noted. It goes to say: ' The government have invested substancial public money in major U.K. banks, as you note, and have guaranteed interbank lending. This is critical for the day-to-day functioning of the economy; small businesses, for instance, depend on the availability of credit. Similarly, banks need to be able to lend to each other ( generally overnight) for day-to-day transactions to function properly. By guaranteeing loans between banks, the government hopes to unfreeze the credit markets; the evidence so far is that, to a limited extent at least, this may be happening '
Its hardly justifies the billions they have commited, considering what the last sentence above says , does it ?
Robert I finally got a letter from Nick Clegg's office this morning, first they thank me for my email to them and after saying that my comments have been well noted. It goes to say: ' The government have invested substancial public money in major U.K. banks, as you note, and have guaranteed interbank lending. This is critical for the day-to-day functioning of the economy; small businesses, for instance, depend on the availability of credit. Similarly, banks need to be able to lend to each other ( generally overnight) for day-to-day transactions to function properly. By guaranteeing loans between banks, the government hopes to unfreeze the credit markets; the evidence so far is that, to a limited extent at least, this may be happening '
Its hardly justifies the billions they have commited, considering what the last sentence above says , does it ?
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Painting projects
Well I'm not saying that its impossible Robert, I think it would be an interesting project to do, when you first mentioned it, the vision of a pinata came to me, you know... the pinata hanging in the air and the children around it gathering the sweets as the pinata swings up above after being hit with a colourful stick by a blind-folded child holding that stick, I have no idea why this image was conjured up in my mind when you asked me why I haven't painted Mexico, so this is something I ought to do, the same way as I can visualise the bull fights, the red colour of the cape, the golden suit of lights, the black bull, the pink stockings against a Prussian blue sky or... the flowing red and white polka dot, flamenco dresses, which it is uniquely and unmistakably Spain which we are talking about, this is another country that I hold dear to my heart too. Spain its my second home for me and I visit it as often as I can, as I have lived, studied and also have family and friends there too. These are projects worthy of painting Robert, lets see how the ideas mature in my mind as I can see a real potential there.
Hola Robert,
The problem is time. Painting is time consuming as Victoria is saying to us. I have the patience to paint for hours but my husband doesn't. e.g. right now, in January, we will be in several countries, starting in Amsterdam, Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. In the past, I have tried to paint with pastels only to find that my lovely pastel box arrived in a grey heap of dust ! I'm painting in oils now, it would be impractical to take and bring back my easel, heavy paint tubes, canvass, flying from one country to another, if on top of that, I already have to pack for three weeks worth of clothes for different occasions, no doubt, we will have to pay excess luggage ! Plus the painting would not have time to dry before I have to pack it somewhere to bring it back. The only way is to take a small sketching pad and a box of graphito pencils to make quick sketches and come home and do it by memory, but even then, my husband does not have the patience to wait any time of length, he starts pacing up and down, sighing as in bored, so its not really practical Robert.
Yes, that is true, the light can have a better quality in some places even in the same country. The best place in Mexico for its light, is San Miguel Allende, where the shadows are long even at mid-day and the colours seem clearer than nowhere else, so it has attracted a painting community, there are even painters from Canada, the United States and Europe in permanint residence there.
Welcome Victoria !
Do not underestimate yourself ! painting on the ceiling has its level of difficulty as you know, what you see close-up near the ceiling its completely different from how the eye sees it from down below, so there is the need to allow for distortions when doing a trompe l ' oeil and it requires a great deal of planning to make sure the pattern in the cornices ends up right and not chopped off at the wrong place ! Plus, the cheer physical discomfort of having your arms raised up for a long period of time. Did you know that having your arms raised up was one of the tortures used in jails ? I have to say, when I saw the Sistine Chappel for the first time, I cried, I could not believe how Michaelangelo managed to complete such a titatic work without sacrifying any of the quality, its just remarkable.
I would like to see your painted ceilings Victoria...
In turn, I will place a small oil portrait I painted of my husband whilst he was reading many years ago. He is due for another one now, as his hair has turned grey but he is not too keen in looking older, to me, he looks just the same except that his hair has turned a bit white.
The problem is time. Painting is time consuming as Victoria is saying to us. I have the patience to paint for hours but my husband doesn't. e.g. right now, in January, we will be in several countries, starting in Amsterdam, Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. In the past, I have tried to paint with pastels only to find that my lovely pastel box arrived in a grey heap of dust ! I'm painting in oils now, it would be impractical to take and bring back my easel, heavy paint tubes, canvass, flying from one country to another, if on top of that, I already have to pack for three weeks worth of clothes for different occasions, no doubt, we will have to pay excess luggage ! Plus the painting would not have time to dry before I have to pack it somewhere to bring it back. The only way is to take a small sketching pad and a box of graphito pencils to make quick sketches and come home and do it by memory, but even then, my husband does not have the patience to wait any time of length, he starts pacing up and down, sighing as in bored, so its not really practical Robert.
Yes, that is true, the light can have a better quality in some places even in the same country. The best place in Mexico for its light, is San Miguel Allende, where the shadows are long even at mid-day and the colours seem clearer than nowhere else, so it has attracted a painting community, there are even painters from Canada, the United States and Europe in permanint residence there.
Welcome Victoria !
Do not underestimate yourself ! painting on the ceiling has its level of difficulty as you know, what you see close-up near the ceiling its completely different from how the eye sees it from down below, so there is the need to allow for distortions when doing a trompe l ' oeil and it requires a great deal of planning to make sure the pattern in the cornices ends up right and not chopped off at the wrong place ! Plus, the cheer physical discomfort of having your arms raised up for a long period of time. Did you know that having your arms raised up was one of the tortures used in jails ? I have to say, when I saw the Sistine Chappel for the first time, I cried, I could not believe how Michaelangelo managed to complete such a titatic work without sacrifying any of the quality, its just remarkable.
I would like to see your painted ceilings Victoria...
In turn, I will place a small oil portrait I painted of my husband whilst he was reading many years ago. He is due for another one now, as his hair has turned grey but he is not too keen in looking older, to me, he looks just the same except that his hair has turned a bit white.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Hola Robert:
Well I always carry Mexico in my heart when I paint. See the colour pink of the roses ? that is called a Mexican pink. I will tell you this much... when I went for my entrance examination in Madrid, the teacher there, a professor of professors upon seeing my work standing behind me commented: " You are not Spanish " very surprised I turned around, looked at him and asked him how the devil did you know without even having heard me speak ? He said: " Its the colours ! that gives you away my dear, you have within you, the vision, the light and the colours of the tropics, these are Latin American colours, our European colours are gray.
Or you mean Mexico as a subject ? I suppose it would be interesting to paint a Mexican scene like the breaking of a pinata, or paint the agave fields in tequila, Jalisco, which are blue in the horizon and the agave plant from where they extract the tequila liquour. Or the time of the Hima in the spring when they cut the leaves of plants which end up looking like giant pineaples. It could be an interesting project which is worth giving it a thought Robert. Thank You !
Well I always carry Mexico in my heart when I paint. See the colour pink of the roses ? that is called a Mexican pink. I will tell you this much... when I went for my entrance examination in Madrid, the teacher there, a professor of professors upon seeing my work standing behind me commented: " You are not Spanish " very surprised I turned around, looked at him and asked him how the devil did you know without even having heard me speak ? He said: " Its the colours ! that gives you away my dear, you have within you, the vision, the light and the colours of the tropics, these are Latin American colours, our European colours are gray.
Or you mean Mexico as a subject ? I suppose it would be interesting to paint a Mexican scene like the breaking of a pinata, or paint the agave fields in tequila, Jalisco, which are blue in the horizon and the agave plant from where they extract the tequila liquour. Or the time of the Hima in the spring when they cut the leaves of plants which end up looking like giant pineaples. It could be an interesting project which is worth giving it a thought Robert. Thank You !
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Outdoor painting can be a dangerous job !
Robert, indeed ! Another time I tried to turn around my car in a narrow lane, reversed it a bit too much when making the U turn, and the car tires got stuck in a ditch ! The more I reved up the car accelerator, the more it splattered the mud around; I was about to call the AA when two Welsh farmers came up and helped me by pushing the car forward from the back, whilst I accelerated it at full speed until it came unstuck ! I was thinking... If I don't get this car forward, the force will make the car roll backwards and I will end up squashing my benefactors, but fortunately it worked.
Friday, 17 October 2008
Than you Victoria and Robert
I was very touched and surprised to read such nice comments from both of you this morning. And due to your requests... I will put up more of my pictures later on today. Lately, I'm painting flowers but I also enjoy doing portrait painting commissions, not just of people but of pets too and I am also a landscape painter which is considered the most difficult of all, since the weather changes in seconds and where you could minutes before see a fluffy cloud, moments later it has disappeared into thin air or a sunny spot or an interesting shade has gone when the clouds above moved away with the wind. And you have to resort to your memory of what was it that inspired you when you first saw the scene in the first place, since what was at first a sunny wonderful day does change into a grey rainy scene and nothing to what originally led you to paint it to start with. Landscape painting is very challenging but very rewarding too. Lately, I have been doing landscapes where I have allowed my imagination to dictate the colours which are not naturalistic, exaggerating the colours of the shadows with mauves and the hills with orange where its warm. But I still love to do landscapes from nature when the weather allows, tricky here in Britain where your easel can be blown away by a gust of wind or... be chased out of a field by a cow ! That was very scary. The cow ran towards me so fast, I had to scamper out of this field without having any time to collect my things, I got safely to the gate and closed it, then I watched the cow sniffing the paint brushes thinking to myself, this is the moment when my picture will get trampled with mud, but no, after she had smelled the paints brushes and noticed there was nothing that moved, she glanced at me and the cow walked back to the end of the field where she had her two calves. The moral of this story, is never get in a field where there is a cow with calves. The farmer who owns the land told me that cows can be as dangerous as bulls when they are looking after their calves.
I have had a lot of pleasant but also scary adventures when painting outdoors. One of the other episodes was when I was painting beside a lovely stone bridge, concentrating in the ripples of the water when a lady stopped her car and she shouted: ' haven't you heard the warnings above you ? ' I said: No, where ? she pointed up at a helicopter hovering around us, she said they are asking people to stay clear of this area since there is a rapist on the lose and the helicopter above is chasing him along this river, whilst the police on the ground were trying to catch him with sniffer dogs to track him down somewhere around here. The lady told me to please pack my things and leave as soon as possible. I thank her very much for her advise and that was a landscape session interrupted for the day. They did catch the man.
I have had a lot of pleasant but also scary adventures when painting outdoors. One of the other episodes was when I was painting beside a lovely stone bridge, concentrating in the ripples of the water when a lady stopped her car and she shouted: ' haven't you heard the warnings above you ? ' I said: No, where ? she pointed up at a helicopter hovering around us, she said they are asking people to stay clear of this area since there is a rapist on the lose and the helicopter above is chasing him along this river, whilst the police on the ground were trying to catch him with sniffer dogs to track him down somewhere around here. The lady told me to please pack my things and leave as soon as possible. I thank her very much for her advise and that was a landscape session interrupted for the day. They did catch the man.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Hi Robert
But his cousin Count Alucard loves the sun !
On the side of this blog is an example of my flower paintings which were deleted from the JTR Casebook. I hope that Count Dracula is playing up with that site !
On the side of this blog is an example of my flower paintings which were deleted from the JTR Casebook. I hope that Count Dracula is playing up with that site !
Monday, 13 October 2008
I have decided to have my own blog as one finds now that virtually every form of public discussion is to a greater or lesser extent infected with political correctness and the only way to bypass that, is to own one's newspaper, website or T.V or blog !
As you may have guessed by now, I was banned from a site called Jack the Ripper Casebook for daring to post some pictures, you could be thinking maybe these pictures are obsene or offensive in some quarters but no. I was banned for posting flowers, my own paintings of flowers, the thread in question said: " Pictures Please " on the middle of the pub section on Creative Writing
It did not specify what kind of pictures, which at first I ignored. Still... there is another thread in the pub section named: " Is Modern Art... A Scam ? I was writing on that one when someone asked me if I could post my flower paintings, I said I was not that versed in posting pictures, then another woman called Suzi starting egging me in by saying it is not Rocket Science Maria, I replied that I would see what I could do. No sooner had I got the first compliment when the pictures vanished like magic. In a place like Casebook I did not expected to get a compliment even if I were Van Gogh, from the group of women who live there for the exception of Victoria and Claire. For years, people have been posting all kinds of pictures in Casebook but when I asked for explanations why the flower pictures had been deleted for no reason at all, the rules suddenly changed over night and the Admon said that you can only post Ripper related pictures even though the thread still says: " Pictures Please " and after my pictures were deleted and I dared to complain, I got a threat to be banned. A friend of mine Dougie upon knowing my predicament, wrote that surely it was unfair to have me banned for posting two flower paintings and expressing an opinion. So Dougie's post was promply deleted and he was threatened with being banned too and his post was deleted without a trace. He was told by the Admon that the matter was not up for discussion and afterwards someone called Black Cat posted an enormous black square which has nothing to do with Jack the Ripper either ! But her picture is still there. Actually... the black square defines them perfectly since being there is like being in a big black hole where humour is alien to the owner and his lover someone called Ally as in Ally-gator since she has no social graces, no talent whatsoever, further more, she is incapable of even starting a conversation with anyone, as you can see for yourself in the Chat Room where she starts of like this: " I'm bored, come an entertain me " and several weeks later... all that she has managed to say is : " I'm in " does she mean in hell, or in limbo or where ? and everyone else just comes in and says : " I'm in " I think the most original was Dougie's post which were actually very, very funny but as they were too hilarious... well, they had to go too ! No one can dare to say anything which can upstage the Queen Mean Ally-gator, she actually calls herself Queen Mean, no kidding and she runs that place like a fiefdom, if you incur in her displeasure or if she gets jealous of you, then you are out, with no explanations given, like in my case and her hen-pecked lover who is supposed to be the owner of the site has no say. Ally-gator rules !
As you may have guessed by now, I was banned from a site called Jack the Ripper Casebook for daring to post some pictures, you could be thinking maybe these pictures are obsene or offensive in some quarters but no. I was banned for posting flowers, my own paintings of flowers, the thread in question said: " Pictures Please " on the middle of the pub section on Creative Writing
It did not specify what kind of pictures, which at first I ignored. Still... there is another thread in the pub section named: " Is Modern Art... A Scam ? I was writing on that one when someone asked me if I could post my flower paintings, I said I was not that versed in posting pictures, then another woman called Suzi starting egging me in by saying it is not Rocket Science Maria, I replied that I would see what I could do. No sooner had I got the first compliment when the pictures vanished like magic. In a place like Casebook I did not expected to get a compliment even if I were Van Gogh, from the group of women who live there for the exception of Victoria and Claire. For years, people have been posting all kinds of pictures in Casebook but when I asked for explanations why the flower pictures had been deleted for no reason at all, the rules suddenly changed over night and the Admon said that you can only post Ripper related pictures even though the thread still says: " Pictures Please " and after my pictures were deleted and I dared to complain, I got a threat to be banned. A friend of mine Dougie upon knowing my predicament, wrote that surely it was unfair to have me banned for posting two flower paintings and expressing an opinion. So Dougie's post was promply deleted and he was threatened with being banned too and his post was deleted without a trace. He was told by the Admon that the matter was not up for discussion and afterwards someone called Black Cat posted an enormous black square which has nothing to do with Jack the Ripper either ! But her picture is still there. Actually... the black square defines them perfectly since being there is like being in a big black hole where humour is alien to the owner and his lover someone called Ally as in Ally-gator since she has no social graces, no talent whatsoever, further more, she is incapable of even starting a conversation with anyone, as you can see for yourself in the Chat Room where she starts of like this: " I'm bored, come an entertain me " and several weeks later... all that she has managed to say is : " I'm in " does she mean in hell, or in limbo or where ? and everyone else just comes in and says : " I'm in " I think the most original was Dougie's post which were actually very, very funny but as they were too hilarious... well, they had to go too ! No one can dare to say anything which can upstage the Queen Mean Ally-gator, she actually calls herself Queen Mean, no kidding and she runs that place like a fiefdom, if you incur in her displeasure or if she gets jealous of you, then you are out, with no explanations given, like in my case and her hen-pecked lover who is supposed to be the owner of the site has no say. Ally-gator rules !
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